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Saturday, January 5, 2013

Saturday Sampling – Evidentia

Last week several blogs that I
read mentioned a new software program called Evidentia.The authors of Evidentia, ed5becy, LLC,
describe the software as “a Source Centric genealogy tool” that, unlike most
genealogy programs, focuses on a source instead of an individual person.The authors also claim that the software
follows the Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG)Genealogical Proof Standard.That is, the software forces
you to document your source, perform a reasonably exhaustive search, resolve
conflicting evidence and so on.

When I first read about the
software, it sounded interesting, but also seemed like it was unnecessary given
how I use The Master Genealogist (TMG), my genealogy database of choice.For instance, Evidentia is supposed to be
Source Centric.Instead of entering a
person and their details (birth, death, residence, etc.), you enter a source
and then each claim the source makes.This is actually how I use TMG.While I may be looking for information about Ernest Solomon Davis, once
I find a source of information, I document the source first in the Master
Source List, then create a single entry (“tag” in TMG speak) for each “fact” on
the source, even if it applies to someone other than Ernest.

Evidentia is also supposed to allow
you to easily see conflicting evidence.For instance, different birth dates for a subject should show up so that
you can see the conflict and resolve it by analyzing your sources.I can also do this with TMG by looking for
multiple birth tags for single person; however Evidentia did make it easier to
see the sources of the conflicting information.In TMG, I would have to open each tag to view my sources and the values
I attached to them indicating my analysis of if the source provided primary or
secondary evidence.With Evidentia, the
screen displayed all sources, along with if the source was primary, secondary,
original, derived, and so on.

One of the major reasons that I
use TMG is that it is fully customizable.While the base install does come with many templates for sources, tags,
locations, and more, I can also create or modify templates as needed.I was pleased to see that Evidentia templates
could also be customized.

What did I dislike about
Evidentia?Nothing really.It took a few minutes to get used to the
interface, but that happens with any new software application.The interface is actually very clean and
intuitive, and the software forces you to step through each process before moving
on to the next.The tool tips that
appear when you hover over an element were handy for learning the interface.

What did I like about
Evidentia?It did force me to slow down
while looking at evidence on a source.For instance, in TMG, if I find evidence of birth information, I would
create a birth tag, fill in the date and place if they were shown, and save the
data.With Evidentia I followed the
process of “Complete this sentence: The source asserts that…” for every piece
of evidence.For instance, Ernest’s
birth information on his death record was listed as 10 May 1873 in Londonderry,
Vermont[1].I typed two sentences on the
Catalogue Claims screen: “The source asserts that Ernest Solomon Davis was born
on 10 May 1873” and “The source asserts that Ernest Solomon Davis was born in
Londonderry, Vermont”.I actually
created 20 different claims from information found on a single index card
documenting Ernest’s death.In TMG I
found that I had cited the same card only 8 times.Part of this, I think, relates to having
dates and places recorded in a single tag in TMG, while recording them as
separate claims in Evidentia.

The big question, of course, is
did I find Evidentia useful enough to purchase?I can definitely see it being a useful piece of software to help solve
complex cases.I liked the interface and
how it forced me to look at each piece of evidence.I also liked how the software was designed to
do exactly what it says.There weren’t
any unnecessary additions that I could see during my trial use.For folks using genealogy databases that only
allow the recording of a single “fact” for things like births and deaths, I can
see the software being helpful to look for conflicting evidence.For me, I think TMG is still sufficient for
my needs, though I may have to think about splitting some tags to be more
detailed in my analysis.

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About Me

As a sixth-generation Vermonter living in the same area as my ancestors, I have a great interest in family and local history. This interest has led me further and further into the field of genealogy, which I have pursued as a hobby for the last twenty-five to thirty years. In the past few years I have begun learning more disciplined approaches to the field, and have started revisiting the ancestors that I gathered during my name-collecting days.